Video Games, sometimes they can teach and expose us to things that we first might not expect. It can be on how to treat others, choose your clothing combinations, or even to simply relieve the stress life piles on you. Regardless of what it is, it’s likely that most have experienced such moments. It’s that spark that ignites the feelings and emotions that connect us to a game. Accordingly, this leads me to delve into the world of Dark Souls 2, a game that has taught me more things than I thought it would. Without a doubt it’s not a game that anyone can pick up and appreciate, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a chance. It’ll definitely teach you things with “tough love” so to speak. So, without further ado, here are the five things Dark Souls 2 has taught me.
How To Manage and Maintain Unpleasant Emotions
The one thing I absolutely can’t deny learning from Dark Souls 2 is how to cope with my emotions and avoid rage quitting. Initially, I questioned myself as to why I picked it up. Why am I playing a game just to die and feel horrible about my gaming skills? Do I deserve such cruel treatment!? After devouring much more food and consuming larger intakes of water than what I had in mind, I relentlessly continued playing. I progressively became accustomed to balancing my emotions by accepting my failures and the careless mistakes I made. Even if blood, sweat, and souls paid the price I learned to accept it and find ways to improve. Whether it’s accepting I’ve failed and reflecting on my mistakes or reverting to an enormous amount of food intake, I’ve learned to manage and maintain my emotions to avoid rage quitting. And yes, I have stayed skinny!!! The game puts you on edge much too many times to count that if you can’t learn to cope with it you will probably have quite a bit of broken controllers laying around…
Be Mindful of My Surroundings
Bonfires, Estus Flask Shards, and Human Effigies…they’re all great if you don’t happen to bypass and/or miss them. They might be chilling at the end of a narrow route that’s easily unseen, behind illusionary walls, or even lying in plain sight or within a treasure chest that is sadly just out of reach. Aside from the heavenly things mentioned above, there are also other things that you really don’t want to miss. While beneficial gains are always nice, there are also beneficial avoidances. These could be enemies lurking above ready to pounce at you once you pass by, missing planks on a bridge causing you to fall nto an endless pit, or a simple trap that you just didn’t see. Dark Souls 2 is packed with tons of things that are easy to miss but not hard to spot if you actually take the time and look around. Whatever it is, stopping not just to admire the scenery but to actually scan the area too is definitely a good idea. Whether it’s to gain something that can aid in your progress or an making an observation that let’s you avoid you imminent death, it doesn’t hurt to take a second to be mindful of your surroundings.
Thinking and Preparing Before Taking Action
Sometimes running in hacking and slashing might do the job, while at other times not so much. Deciding to face enemies head on, ranged, or by tactically luring them into traps can make all the difference. Have enough Life Gems or Estus Flasks to survive a startling blow or an ambush? What about that armor or weapon you have equipped? Is its weight or speed slowing you down? Even the slightest change to your approach can have an enormous impact on how effectively and efficiently your gameplay can be. Your one last Life Gem could replenish just enough health for you to secure that last swipe to abolish your enemy. Meanwhile, treasure chests are definitely intriguing and intimidating, but beware of the ones that are traps. Instead of rushing to open them up, have a few whacks at it (if they’re the wooden ones) and they might reveal something unexpected. While the metal ones are much more difficult to identify as a trap, you still need to take the precaution of considering that it might be a trap. Undeniably, I’ve learned the hard way to grasp the concept of needing to stop and think before venturing on, and if you don’t catch on to it at the beginning, you’ll surely be forced to do it as you progress further into the game.
Take Risks Even If They Seem Insane
Like mentioned earlier, there are items that are out of reach and treasure chests that could be traps. For things out of reach, jumping or dropping to another platform might be required. While it might seem something that could result in death, taking that chance could be one of the best choices you’ve ever made in the game. Opening up a trap chest is never fun, but if you manage to escape just in time to avoid death you might be in for a treat. Dark Souls 2 does a fantastic job at making you feel rewarded and gain that sense of accomplishment. I have yet to question myself as to why I’ve put so many hours into it, I just continuously look forward to what more it can offer me. The more risks I can take the more exciting the game becomes. Even if I don’t take the risk immediately I’ll remember to return to it when I muster up my strength. Trust me, that feeling of accomplishment by landing on a platform after a huge jump is a pretty awesome feeling. Not to mention, the item or treasure chest sitting on that platform might prove to be completely worth the effort and gamble too.
Try and Try Again
Of course the Soul series has been known for being difficult games that contain quite a bit of well…death, and Dark Souls 2 is no different, which is a good thing. Death can occur from the silliest of mistakes or from the worthiest of battles. Regardless how you die, how many times you die, or why you die, you get right back up and do it all over again. I mentioned how Dark Souls 2 gives you that feeling of accomplishment and reward, well trying over and over again is another thing you will learn to cope with and become accustomed to. Even when certain things seem hopeless to achieve (e.g. defeat that last foe) I tried different approaches and tactics to reach my goal. There wasn’t any room to foster giving up; the only thought that becomes prevalent is “What other options do I have?” Even though the game can push you to your breaking point, it does so in a way that doesn’t make you want to abandon it entirely, but rather fight against it to achieve your goal. You’ll just grab your controller yet again and continue embarking in the world of Dark Souls 2.
I am sure that there are many other facets to this game that others can point out, but I just thought it was interesting to list out things that I never thought would be list worthy when playing a game. I guess Dark Souls 2 just pushed me to that point where I started to note how it made me feel and what I did to move along. It’s been a long time since a game has done that, and I am happy I have played this one for as long as I have.